Let’s remember – Seattle’s first responders are counting on us to be alert whenever we see flashing lights, emergency vehicles, and incident response crews in the roadway. Unfortunately, secondary crashes involving emergency workers make up about 20 percent of all incidents, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Our state also recently passed a distracted driving law to help reduce and end all traffic-related fatalities, including those involving the community with the most to lose.

Drivers:

Slow Down and Move Over when passing by an incident scene to provide a protective buffer for you, responders, and the motorists behind you

Nearly 13% of the firefighters and police officers who die in the line of duty are killed in vehicle-related incidents

Traffic incidents are the number one cause of death of EMS/EMT responders

The whole purpose of National Traffic Incident Response Week is to remind travelers to do their part whenever they roll up on a collision or see flashing lights in their rearview mirror – it means you should clear the way for first responders!

But which way?

Existing laws can be confusing, so we’ll do our best to explain.

The Seattle Fire Department reminds drivers to move RIGHT for lights and sirens. When you see first responders approaching your vehicle from any direction, that’s when the law requires you to move to the right, if you can. It’s the law (Revised Code of Washington RCW 46.61.210, to be exact).

When FIRST RESPONDERS are approaching you with flashing lights and sirens: move RIGHT to let them by.

When YOU are approaching first responders clearing an incident: move LEFT and give them space.

Got it? Great!

Being safe on our roadways and watching out for the safety of our first responders helps us all move closer to Seattle’s Vision Zero goal to end traffic deaths and serious injuries on city streets by 2030. Now, be safe out there – no matter which way you’re going!

When you think of “first responders,” you might think of Seattle Police or Seattle Fire Department (because, yup, it’s them!), but did you know that SDOT has our own team of responders who help keep our city streets clear of incidents? That’s our Seattle Response Team!

They’re part of what’s called the new Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Program – it means all our City teams are always ready to respond to traffic incidents and work in coordination with each other and other agencies to clear incidents as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible.

Other members of our overall response team include our Transportation Operations Center (TOC) – they are the eyes and ears of SDOT and sometimes spot an incident before anyone else. The TOC coordinates with our Radio Dispatcher Office to make sure our SRT knows about traffic incidents so they can help clear them to keep people moving.

New Services:

To beef up our response, we increased the number of our SRT from 5 to 9 people and we are adding 3 new trucks to our fleet, which will really helped us to clear incidents quickly on our major streets. New services that responders have been providing to the public include:

Moving stalled vehicles out of travel lanes safely (using a GoJak tool – see it in action in this video)

Providing gas to stranded motorists who are blocking major roadways

Jumping batteries using new jump box equipment

Helping motorists by changing flat tires

Acting as SDOT’s on-scene incident command representative

Supporting coordination between SPD, SFD and SDOT

Providing updated incident information to our TOC to be shared with the public, SDOT executive team and the Mayor’s office

Clearing road of debris and hazardous materials spills created by accidents

Setting up traffic control for longer incidents and crash investigations

And all this is in addition to the regular duties our responders perform on a daily basis as part of their everyday jobs! Our City responders and our SRT are here for you, 24/7!

Yes, our SRT was there when this happened too.

Recognizing and watching out for our City’s first responders is the whole point of National Traffic Incident Response Week this week, November 13 -19! They keep their eyes out for us, so this is a great reminder to keep an eye out for them!

What does this week mean for you and me?

It’s a reminder that ALL travelers must slow down, move over, and allow emergency vehicles to pass when they see flashing lights ahead or behind them.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) declared November 13 – 19, Traffic Incident Response Week, to highlight the important work that first responders do and keeping them safe as they save lives.

Who are first responders?

First responders are the people who respond to traffic incidents on our roadways and help to keep them clear. Seattle Police, Seattle Fire Department, and SDOT all have responders who are part of a highly-coordinated effort to ensure that traffic doesn’t jeopardize the safety of victims, other drivers, and first responders themselves.

Source: Federal Highway Administration

Do Your Part.

Allow emergency vehicles to pass so first responders like firefighters, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and police officers can get to the scene of an accident as quickly as they can. Traffic incidents are the number one cause of death of police officers and EMTs. For example, every year in the U.S., a tow truck operator is killed every 6 days.

So, in addition to following the rules of the road by slowing down and pulling over to clear the way for first responders, there’s another simple, yet key rule to follow. If there are no injuries to the driver and the car is operable, the law — known as Steer It Clear It— requires you to move the vehicle off the roadway to a shoulder or parking area as soon as possible.

Did the Hoff come to mind? Well, that’s not who/what we’re talking about.

In all seriousness, we’re talking about life-saving equipment. While Seattle is consistently recognized as a safe city, there’s always more to do to work toward our Vision Zero goal to end traffic deaths and serious injuries on city streets by 2030.

Installed side-guard on SDOT truck.

One of the things we’re doing is installing side guards to our fleet of SDOT crew trucks with 17 already completed. The life-saving equipment will help to prevent pedestrians, motorcyclists, and bicyclists from going under a truck and causing serious injuries or fatalities by rear truck tires. Side guards are common throughout the world especially in the United Kingdom where they’ve seen a drop in fatalities from side-impact collisions with trucks.

But you may have missed one of the big commitments that we put forward: crosswalks!

Under the levy, SDOT agreed to repaint crosswalks every 4 years or sooner. To make sure we’re hitting our 4-year or better goal, you have to do a little math. Seattle has 5,357 marked crosswalks. So as long as we’re re-marking 1,340 or more crosswalks per year, we’re meeting or exceeding our goal.

It’s not always a simple math equation. Sometimes we repaint crosswalks more frequently than every four years for safety concerns or because they’re heavily used. But you can consider this another Levy to Move Seattle accomplishment signed, sealed, and delivered in 2017!

True story that SDOT has a long list of paving needs on streets throughout the city, and we’re working diligently on repairing and rebuilding our community’s streets.

A big shout out to our dedicated SDOT crew members who show up each day to help make your morning commute, afternoon soccer drop-off, and weekend bike ride smooth like butter.

Thanks to your voter-approved Move Seattle levy dollars, SDOT crews have already repaved the equivalent of over three miles, three lanes wide of damaged streets this year – with even more on the way!

While these road miles are spread around multiple locations across the city, West Seattle residents and visitors may have noticed that SW Edmunds St recently got a face lift. Just check out these before and after pictures:

People in several Seattle neighborhoods including Rainier Valley and Bitter Lake now have new road surfaces, thanks to the City’s 2017 Microsurfacing Program. Microsurfacing is a cost-effective way to extend the life of pavement by sealing minor cracks and other problems by applying a thin protective coating on roads – it’s just like painting your house to protect it!

This year, SDOT crews spent 10 days in August working on streets around future Neighborhood Greenways in Rainier Valley and in North Seattle, as well as in Bitter Lake, Wedgwood, and Ravenna-Bryant neighborhoods.

It’s that time again! Summer is ending, school’s about to start and back-to-school activities are well underway here at SDOT. Yep, you read that right! SDOT and back-to-school go hand-in-hand, because we’re all about Safe Routes to School. This is why we kicked off Operation TREE-IAGE, you know like, ‘triage’? You can thank Director Scott Kubly for that clever little number.

Please checkout our short Blog Video that has useful information:

So far SDOT crews have trimmed and cleared:

348 signs/signals

671 sidewalk locations

1054 trees

We’ve targeted overgrown vegetation and trees around Seattle’s 59 public elementary schools. Crews are clearing sidewalks and walkways of overgrowth so kids have a clear and safe path to walk to class. Our Urban Forestry team is also pruning trees and bushes covering school zone signs, beacons, and signals so drivers have clear visibility and can adjust speeds accordingly.

This project ends Sept 1, is another way to get closer to Seattle’s Vision Zero goal and improve safety for our youngest travelers. Remember, the speed limit on all residential streets is 20 MPH (just like the school zone speed limit!).

We’ve also teamed up with Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection to educate residents of tree trimming and vegetation maintenance requirements in the right-of-way, and encourage them to share this information with neighbors and help out neighbors who might need assistance.